Tour Athens From Your Couch

Last year, I traveled to Greece. Last week, I finally found time to edit the pictures I took there. In light of the current pandemic, I thought I’d share old travel pictures with all of you. Helpfully these images will provide you a bit of virtual relief for your cabin fever.

Around 15 years ago, I visited Athens with my parents. To my memory’s eye, not much has changed. But then again, 15 years in Athen’s timeline is a centimeter of the football field sideline of time.

Jump forward to my trip in 2019, it was fun to see a foreign city through adult lenses. Of course we did the typical tourists things like visiting the Acropolis. What a place to behold! Every tourist wonders how such a thing built in the 5th century and marvels that it still stands today.

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In ancient Greek mythology, lions symbolized majesty, strength, courage, justice, and military might.

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Even at only 45 feet tall, the Parthenon stands tall in the books of human history.

The Porch of the Caryatids (aka the women columns) is my favorite part of the Acropolis.
It’s part of the Erechtheion, dedicated to Athena and Poseidon.

Pretty amazing that these structures are about 2,466 years old.

Just look at the expanse that is Athens. Over 3 million people call the city home.
It spreads across a thousand square miles.

Views from the Acropolis: According to mythology, Athena had been carrying a limestone mountain around. She eventually dropped it, creating Mount Lycabettus–the tallest of the 7 hills of Athens.

I really enjoyed walking around Plaka, the oldest neighborhoods of Athens that sit directly below The Acropolis. It’s filled with whitewashed homes, narrow winding streets with no cars, and lots of graffiti.

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Some of the walkways are so narrow, it’s hard to fit through them!

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A little more about Athens:

• Athens is over 3,400 years old.
• It was the birthplace of modern democracy.
• According to mythology, Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, was the guardian of the city.
• Even though their patron goddess was female, only men were considered citizens in ancient Greece.
• It was believed that Athena gifted the city with an olive tree. It’s no wonder that Greece is one of the largest producers of olives in the world, with some trees dating back to the 1200s.

a picture of the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, built in the 1950s after the original which was built between between 159 BC and 138 BC

We watched the sunset from the outcroppings of rocks in front of the Acropolis,
called the Areopagus.

So long, Athens. Maybe I’ll see you again in another 15 years.